The present invention relates to a truss brace for use to brace and accurately space trusses during construction of buildings or the like and to provide support for trusses after their installation.
Trusses are used in construction of buildings or the like to provide support for decking such as roof sheathing and flooring. Such trusses tend to be very long and although designed to adequately support downward loading, their length permits lateral movement of the trusses and truss components affecting the spacing therebetween. Bracing trusses is important to insure efficient construction. Accurate spacing of the trusses is also important because roof sheathing and flooring secured to trusses is typically precisely cut to standard dimensions, e.g. four foot by eight foot sheets of plywood or OSB (oriented strand board). Also, some roofing, e.g., sheet metal, is also precisely dimensioned likewise requiring accurate placement of trusses in order to install and secure the roofing in place. When preformed trusses are erected to form a roof for example, a first truss is placed in position on supporting walls in an upright position and held upright with suitable bracing. A second truss is then erected in position and held to the first truss with inter-truss bracing. Typically, inter-truss bracing for wood roof trusses is an elongate board, e.g., a 1xc3x974, that is secured to a truss chord and extends laterally from the trusses to provide bracing for several trusses, the bracing being held in place with supplemental mechanical fasteners. In the construction of metal truss systems, an elongate rolled section of metal, e.g. a hat channel is used instead of the wood 1""4. It is secured in place to multiple trusses with mechanical fasteners. Although both of these brace systems are effective in achieving truss bracing, the overhang of an elongate board or channel for bracing requires extra labor in maneuvering subsequent trusses into place to avoid hitting the inter-truss bracing. The brace, because of its projecting into the area where the next truss is to be positioned, blocks freedom of movement of the subsequent trusses to position them in the proper location where the brace is projecting. An alternate and less desirable brace for wood trusses included short brace strips which were cut to a length generally at the construction site. The length is generally equivalent to the center-to-center spacing of the trusses and nailed into place onto two truss chords and spanned between only two trusses, immediate nailing being required to hold them in place. This required additional labor to maintain bracing as well as proper spacing. Even though the use of bracing that spanned several trusses was more effective at bracing and spacing, it caused the aforementioned inefficiency in maneuvering the trusses into place. Further, wood bracing if positioned on top of the truss chords had to be removed to install the sheathing so the sheathing would lie flat on the trusses. An example of a roof truss and truss brace are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,448 and is designed to be used with wood trusses. It utilizes integral nails for securement to the sides and tops of the truss top chords. This brace provides an improved brace, but still requires some additional effort and time upon installation to drive the nails into the sides of the truss members.
Increasingly, formed metal components are being used in place of wood in construction and are not readily adapted for use with accessories designed for use with wood components. Accessories for use with metal components such as truss braces need to be easy to position and secure since fastening requires special fasteners and the brace cannot easily be temporarily tacked in place and then moved to a final position for final securement. An example of such a fastener is a self tapping screw, e.g. a Tek(copyright) screw. In order to improve efficiency in construction, the quantity of fasteners should be kept low to reduce labor costs. Further, braces should be easy to position both preliminarily and finally and hold in alignment to brace the trusses against movement and to accurately position the trusses to reduce labor cost and provide good quality construction in the finished structure. Once finally positioned, the braces should be easy to secure in position. Further, such braces would also desirably help brace the trusses against lateral movement after construction of the truss system is completed. In order to reduce cumulative error over wide surfaces that span many truss systems, e.g., in roof construction, the braces would desirably be self squaring to the trusses to facilitate their installation. Moreover, it would be desirable to have the braces interlock and thereby form a run or row of braces in line to also facilitate construction of a truss system.
Thus, there is need for a simple brace for use with formed metal trusses that is efficient and simple to use to reliably brace trusses to form a truss system. The brace should also reliably space the trusses on predetermined centers along their length and be inexpensive to manufacture.
Generally the truss structure of the present invention utilizes a plurality of generally parallel trusses with braces secured to and extending between the chords of adjacent trusses for bracing and to position and maintain the trusses in generally parallel relationship. The braces utilize a snap lock preferably on both ends to secure and position themselves on to adjacent trusses. The snap locks can each include a channel for capturing a truss therein preventing lateral movement of one truss relative to the other truss. A brace bridging a pair of trusses will interlock with a brace bridging one of the bridged trusses with another adjacent truss and then additional braces will be used between the other erected trusses to fix the trusses in place after erection. The braces will retain themselves in place where preliminarily positioned until permanently secured in placed with fasteners. The fasteners and portions of the braces overlying the trusses are sufficiently thin that they will not interfere with the sheathing secured to the trusses. Moreover, the braces can be positioned where the edges of adjacent sheets of sheathing abut to help support the edges of the sheathing and to place some of the fasteners at the gaps between the sheathing members to provide space for the fasteners to further reduce curving of the sheathing at the fasteners.
Among the several objects and features of the present invention may be noted the provision of a brace for securing trusses at predetermined center spacings; the provision of a brace for use with metal trusses; the provision of a brace that will automatically square itself on the truss and between two adjacent trusses; the provision of a brace that will interlock with another brace to form a brace run extending across and spacing a series of generally parallel trusses; the provision of a brace that will retain itself in a preliminary or final position before being finally secured in place; the provision of a brace that is inexpensive to manufacture; the provision of a brace that can be formed as one piece from metal sheet; the provision of a brace that will provide a snap lock connection to a truss; and the provision of a truss system that utilizes such a brace with metal trusses to position a plurality of trusses in generally parallel relationship.
The present invention involve the provision of a brace for use in spacing structural trusses in a truss system. Each truss is formed by truss components. The brace comprises a beam having opposite first and second ends. A first retainer extends from the first end of the beam and has a transversely extending channel adapted to receive a truss component therein to connect the brace to a truss in a self-retaining position on the truss such that the beam extends generally perpendicularly outwardly from the truss toward an adjacent truss in the truss system. A second retainer extends from the second end of the beam and is adapted for engaging the adjacent truss for holding the adjacent truss and the truss in spaced relation relative to each other within the truss system.
The invention also involves the provision of a brace for use in spacing structural trusses in a truss system with each truss being formed by truss components. The brace comprises a beam having opposite first and second ends. A first retainer extends from the first end of the beam and a second retainer extends from a second end of the beam opposite the first end. The first retainer is adapted to hook onto a component of a first truss of the truss system without penetrating the truss component. The second retainer is adapted to hook onto a component of a second truss of the truss system without penetrating the truss component. The beam is constructed for extending between the first and second trusses for maintaining a substantially fixed space between the first and second trusses.
In another aspect of the invention, a truss system comprises trusses arranged in spaced apart, generally side-by-side relation in a structure. Elongate braces are provide with each brace extending between adjacent trusses and engaging the trusses for maintaining a desired spacing therebetween. The braces are arranged in a row extending generally orthogonally to the sides of the trusses such that the longitudinal axes of the braces are generally coincident. At least some of the braces in the row overlap each other where both engage the same truss. A first retainer is on a first end of the brace and is adapted to engage a truss component and to connect the brace to a truss in a self-retaining position on the truss. A second retainer is on a second end of the beam and is adapted for engaging the adjacent truss for holding the adjacent truss and the truss in spaced relation relative to each other within the truss system.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a brace for use in spacing structural trusses in a truss system, each truss being formed by truss components. The brace comprises a beam having opposite first and second ends. A first retainer extends from the first end of the beam and is constructed to be in a self-retaining position on the truss such that the beam extends outwardly from the truss toward an adjacent truss in the truss system. A second retainer extends from the second end of the beam and has a transversely extending channel adapted to receive a truss component therein to connect the brace to a truss holding the adjacent truss and the truss in spaced relation relative to each other within the truss system.
Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.